siddall



Jan. 31, 1956 s. G. SIDDALL HANDLED FOLDABLE CARRIER FOR BOTTLES AND REFRESHMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 1, 1955 Jan. 31, 1956 Filed June 1, 1953 s. G. SIDDALL 2,732,983

HANDLED FOLDABLE CARRIER FOR BOTTLES AND REFRESHMENTS INVENTOR JTANA 7 6. 6/00/74:

UnitcdjStates Pate tO HANDLED FOLDABLE CARRIER FOR BOTTLES AND REFRESHMENTS Stanley G. Siddall, Orangeville, Ontario, Canada Application June 1, 1953, Serial No. 358,810

5 Claims. (Cl. 224-48) This invention relates to master packing devices for carrying articles such as comestibles.

It is known to provide a carrying device made of paste board, plastic or the like and designed to contain a plurality of identical articles such as bottles, cups, ice cream cones or the like.

It is also known to provide bottle or cup packages so designed that they may be converted, after a first primary use as a carrying device, to some other utility such as a toy house, or the like.

The above mentioned prior art devices serve a restricted field of utility in a satisfactory manner. They do not, however, supply the need for a master packing that will include a variety of commonly, combined articles. For example, a group of workmen who habitually seek one anothers society during a lunch interval often arrange for a vendor to supply a group of lunch combinations including sandwiches and. a liquid beverage which is carried from the vendors distributing point to the workmens rest location either by one of the workmen concerned, or bya messenger. Sometimes amessenger, will be. called L upon to transport a numberof such selections of comesti- .bleacombinations toa number of workman groups and .thereis frequent confusion due to orders becoming mixed, delayed, mislaid .or wrongly directed; the principal reason for such incidents being-the difierent natures of solid and liquid comestiblesand the fact that both in the liquid sphere. and in the. solids'sphere, basic packaging devices .are'oftenl so much alike that at a-collecting point inden- .;tification and proper combining of a cu'stomers selections Qisdifiicult thus leading to errors in setting up combinations. and in delivering them to the customers in accordance-with thelatters selections. p

It is an objectof the present invention to provide a .master packing device which can be. assembled at the point where the customers order isbfirst executed and [which is designed to accommodate a va'riety of comesti- Lfbles of different kinds in combination. l It isa furtherobject to providea master packing device offthe kind indicated which can be stored flat and Quickly assembled into the desired form without the use (of uncommon tools or specialized skills. a

v jltis a further object'to provide a master packing device I of ,the kind indicated which will, protect a combination 0f comestiblesof differing natures from contamination and/or spilling during the transport of the package from one point to another, in the fieldof utility.

V A,master, packing device according to these teachings comprises a sheet of flexible material of a generally cruciform shape, but and scored to form when folded a box-likle packageincluding a bottom portion, two oppositely positioned side walls,two apertured and partly overlapping top walls, upper and lower dwarf walls in each end, upper and lower inwardly sloping ramps in each end, a" longitudinal walled slot centrally positioned ,at .the juncture of said two apertured top walls, a flanged handle member arranged to reside within said slot and .LtoJprOt rude upward therethrough, means for latching the said lower ramps to the said bottom member, and means or latching the said upper ramps to the overlapping pornsf .of 'said two apertured topwalls. My invention provides an article carrier of the kind H 2,732,983 Patented Jan. 31, 1956? referred to which can be stored in folded condition. Additionally a quantity of them can be stacked in a small space for use as required.

A salient feature of the article carrier is that it is admirably suited for use at amusement centres, such as 'outdoor theatres, baseball parks and stadiums, picnic parks, and other places at which refreshments are sold at stands, stores, etcetera.

The article carrier enables refreshments such as soft drinks and hot-dogs, sandwiches, etc., to be conveniently carried from a refreshment booth to a nearby place at which they are to be consumed. As a specific example of the utility of the article, it may be pointed out that at an outdoor theatre one of several persons in an'automobile may obtain refreshments at a booth and conveniently carry them to the automobile for consumption by the occupants without attendant spilling of the comestibles. The advantages of the invention will therefore be appreciated.

These teachings will now be further elucidated by a description of a favored embodiment thereof the textual disclosure being assisted by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a master packing device designed to hold up to six beverage containers and one or more wrapped lunches, fruit, and/ or the like.

Figure 2 shows a section along the lines 2-2 of Fig ure 1 showing a separate flanged handle piece. 7

Figure 3 is a plan layout of a sheet of flexible material such as cardboard showing the scores, cuts and apertures required to prepare the body-piece of the construction according to the invention as depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a master packing device according to, the invention shown in process of assembly.

Figure 5 is a section (reduced in size) along the lines 55 of Figure 2. V

Figure 6 is an explanatory sketch showing how the handle nests in the slotted aperture appearing in the sectional view of Figure 5.

Referring now to these figures, 1 (Figure 3) is a sheet of flexible material preferably cardboard which may be pre-processed by impregnating or coating with a wax or plastic compound, or may be simply hard finished to render it reasonably resistant to the absorption of contaminating agencies. The sheet is cut to what is being termed a cruciform shape comprising a central portion 2 which will constitute the bottom of the container when folded, two symmetrically disposed lateral extensions or arms of the cross, 3, 4 which will become the main enclosing sides of the container and, extending from these, respective further extensions or wings 5, 6. These lateral extensions of the cross arms each embrace transverse extensions 7, 8 on wing 5 and lateral re-entrant forms 9, 10 on wing 6.

Parts 5 and 6 each contain symmetrically disposed apertures designed to act as recesses for retaining beverage containers. In this connection the present example contemplates apertures 11 to be of circular formfand each of a size to seize the mid-periphery of a standard 6 ounce beverage cup. This is not to be regarded as a limiting specification of these apertures, since they may be varied in either size or shape to suit local popularity or usage in connection with beverage receptacles.

The vertical arms of the cross'comp'rise extensions 12, 13.

The contours of the figure so far described are further modified by the addition of slots and tabs as'seen in Figure 3. Two inward slots in parts 5 and 6 provide the two independent members 14, 15 which will be bent to form the guide walls of a handle-slot; Extensions 7 and 8' are notched to provide tabs 16,17, 18, 19, and part 5 contains corresponding slots 20, 21, 22, 23. Parts 6 and '9 and also contain slots 24, 25,: 26, 27: these latter slots are disposed with reference to slots to 23 to be geometrically ani le memar about the centre line o'fthe vertical arm "of the cross. 4 I The vertical arms of the cross 'eoiitain notched tabs 28, 29, 30, 31,'and T shaped slots 32, '33, 34, 35. These latter tabs and "l' slots are arranged to pair geometrically about the centre line or the cross.

7 The dot-dash lines in Figure 3 show how the sheet is scored to facilitate bendin of the parts. It will'be noted :that parts 7 and "8 and parts 12 and 13 include 'twos'c'ores close'together. These provide'for the upper and lower dwarf walls 36, 37 and 38, 39. These act partly as reinforcement to strengthen the structure and also provide bases for the ramps which'will evolvewhen the configuration of Figure 3 is bent andformed into a container.

7 Figure 4 shows the configuration or Figure 3 after the component parts have been bent along the score lines and is on the point of final assembly into a master packing device in accordance with my teachings. It will be noted that the parts 7, 8 have been bent so as to form what is fl erein ealled upper ramps and parts 12, '13 have been bent to form lower ramps; the base portions 36, 37, 38,39 constitute the dwarf walls which partly but not wholly enclose the ends of the container. The extensions *9, 10 slide into the spaces made by the upper ramps and the slots 20, 21, 22, 23 index with the corresponding slots 24, 25, 26,

17m swabs 16.11. 19 passthrough the respefiive corresponding pairs of slots to lock the whole assembly together as seen in Figure l. s

The handle 40 is a separatepieee of material which may beef thefsame nature as that of the main sheet, but may if desired be made heavier or even of some less flexible substance.

When the assembly shown in Figure 4 is closed up and docked, the parts 14, 1 5 fold downward to form a slotted aperture. The handle 40 is nested in this aperture and is inserted into the assembly when it is in .process at or about the condition of progress shown in Figure 4.

- a The handle comprises a main body portion 41, complementary flanges 42, 43 and'hand aperture 44. The flanges are contoured as shown in Figure 2 so that when the handle 'is fully extended to take the weight of thepackage as shown'in Figure 2 the upper edges of each flange abut a corresponding surface of an upper ramp 7 and 8.

The lower ramps 12, 13 are latched into the slots 32, 33, 34, by tabs 28, '29, 30, Sland form part of the bottom of the container giving to the bottom a concave characterwhich assists in retaining solid comestibles such assandwiches or fruit. An apple for example would tend to be retained against rolling out of the compartment by the restraining contour of the bottom provided by the ramps. Both the upper and lower ramps with their attached dwarf walls afford a great strength to the container by reinforcing it at what would otherwise be points of weak resistance to stress. I b

It will be observed that the handle can be retracted untilits flanged end rests upon the lower ramps, providing there are no comestibles in the space it would then occupy.

It will be evident that the exemplified construction provides a master packing for transporting assortedcomestibles or the like which affords security andsafe conduct for a wide variety of selected articles and is of sturdy and secure construction yet simple and inexpensive withall, and easy to assemble from flat stock which can be readily stored in small space.

It is also evident that various minor modifications can be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of my teachings. For example the dwarf Walls could be made deeper than those depicted, or the beverage cup apertures could be of assorted sizes to hold receptacles of differing shapes or capacities. The fastening means could be varied, such for example as by stapling-the sections together instead of using the tabs and slots shown. -All such modifications are to be regarded as lying within the ambit of the relevant appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An article carrier embodying in combination a container comprising a strip (if-flexible material creased to provide a container body having a bottom part for supporting articles of food and side members extending oppositely from said bottom part and folded upwardly to form side walls at the lower portions of said side members, the upper portions of said side members folded inwardly to jointly form the top wall structure of the carrier and being apertured to provide openings for seating drinking cups, and said upper portions of said side members having longitudinally extending edge'parts transversely of said side members folded downwardly in slightly spaced relation to provide a handle receiving slot reinforced by said edge parts, the terminal parts of said upper portions being continued beyond said slotforming edge parts at the ends of said handle receiving slot to enablethem to be secured together for uniting said side members -at their upper portions; securing means fastening said terminal parts in assembled relation, and a flat handle forming element of substantially rigid material lodged in said slot in vertical disposition and having retaining means for precluding displacement.

2. An article carrier as set forth in claim 1, in which the securing means for the terminal parts consists of tabs adapted to be engaged in apertures.

3. An article carrier as set forth in claim 1, in which the handle is 'slidable in the slot for movement between projected and retracted positions and is limited in outward movement to its projected position by means of stop-forming flanges.

4. An article carrier as set forth in claim 1,-in which thestrip of'fle'xible material is provided with extension parts at the ends of "the bottom part of the container and" folded upwardly to form dwarf end walls and further folded inwardly and downwardly to form ramps which reinforce the container assembly.

5. An article carrier, which comprises a pair'of like side walls, a bottom wall attached to the'side walls at their lower ends, a dwarf end wall at each end of the bottom wall and connected thereto, each dwarf end wall extending between the enclosing side walls at corresponding ends thereof, a ramp member at each end of thebottom wall arranged in overlying relation thereto, each ramp member being connected at the outer end to the upper end of one of the dwarf end walls and sloped downwardly therefrom to rest at its inner end on the bottom wall, a first top wall member attached to the upper end of one of the side walls, a second top wall member attached to the upper end of the other side wall, said top wall members jointly forming the top wallstructure of the carrier and provided with apertures receptive to drinking cups,-edge parts connected to said top wall members and extending downwardly therefrom in con- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,011,752 Conlisham Dec. 12, 1911 1,140,540 Smith May 25, 1915 2,284,682 Powell June 2, 1942 2,581,100 Hennessyun "Jan. 1, 1952 2,609,137 Toensmeier Sept.'2, 1952 r 2,621,783 Buttery L QDecJ 16; 1952 

